The vitreous body is a connective tissue with an organized structure. The objective of this proposal is to determine the macromolecular structures and interactions responsible for maintaining this highly organized issue. Hyaluronic acid and collagen are two major components of the vitreous. Knowledge of the relationship between these macromolecules is fundamental to understanding the organization of the vitreous. The project proposes to use viscosity, sedimentation, and spectroscopic techniques such as circular dichroism, optical rotation, etc. to study the structural properties of hyaluronic acid and its interaction with collagen. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: Figueroa, N., Nagy, B. and Chakrabari, B.: Cu2 ion hyaluronic acid-spectrophotometric detection. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 74:460-465, 1977. Chakrabarti,B; Effect of Counterions on the Conformation of Hydraluronic Acid. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 180, 1977, in press.